Quarter of a Century

Welp, I'm officially a quarter of a century!  The big 2-5!  My dad asked if I was depressed about being older, but so far I like getting older.  Life just keeps getting better and I'm so incredible blessed (it blows my mind really!), so what's not to like!?

I had a fantastic birthday {week}!!  Thursday night the festivities started when I met Andrea for our traditional birthday mani/pedis :)  We relaxed and chatted at out favorite nail bar, Polished, while we got pampered and sipped a glass of wine!  Of course I forgot to take a picture of she & I, but this was the end result for my nails...

Andrea said, "Go big or go home -  you're turning 25!!"  So I agreed & went big or bright actually!  I chose this pretty corally pink and Andrea went wild with some turquoise!  (She's a designer, she can pull it off ;)

We grabbed some dinner at Panera while B scrimmaged a little bit of softball game with a friend's team.  When he got home, he surprised me with this stunner!!

Oh.my.word.  I was so surprised!  Brandon took this tiny little box out from behind his back and my jaw just dropped as I immediately thought jewelry.  All along I had no clue what he was getting me!  I kept wondering what he was planning as I couldn't think of anything else I had asked for besides my iPhone cover.

When I opened the box I was shocked!!  Gorgeous right!?  It's a Black Onyx that he picked it out all by himself.  He's got good taste, I will say!!  I shouldn't be surprised, he picked my engagement ring all on his own, too!

Friday, I woke up extra chipper!  The Facebook messages had already started and I was feelin' the birthday love.  I left for school with my gorgeous new right hand ring, stopped by Starbucks for my free birthday drink (man, I love their rewards!), and my kids were sweet to me all day :)  The social media messages didn't stop along with texts and phone calls and lots of love all around.  So incredibly blessed.

I left school soon after the kids - it's my birthday, I can do that right? - and got in a good run and workout before dinner with fun friends & family!  Nothing like working out on your birthday.  Telling time and your biological clock what's up!

I requested La Paz as my birthday dinner choice since they're finally reopened in the Metropolitan shopping center!  Yummy Mexican!  I didn't take any pictures at dinner, but a few other people did.  Whenever they post those pics I'll come back and add them in.

There were 19 people at dinner.  19!  So incredibly blessed!  Just can't get over it.  Dinner was delish, complete with some fried ice cream at the end :)

Afterwards, a few of us walked next door to Hickory Tavern to continue the party!

Me & my man 

The ladies at Hickory Tavern

The boys

It was such a fun night!  I'm so thankful for my wonderful friends and family!  25 has been a really great birthday!

Perhaps the best gift of all was finding out Thursday that we're under contract on the house!!!  

After my post Wednesday about the craziness that is house hunting, it's all starting to feel worth it!  We still have a few hoops to jump through, i.e. an appraisal & home inspection, but if those go well....we should be good to go!  We drove by today and saw the "under contract" signs.  Eeeeee!!!

So how's that for a birthday gift huh!?  B said between a ring and house I should be good for a few years ;)

The rest of our weekend has been wonderfully quiet.  A simple weekend at home with my man - some shower & bachelorette planning, a little TV, some Dexter, movies, some working out, laundry, endless home decor searches online ;) & some made in the mug brownies.  

Yes, it's been a fantastic birthday weekend!!

Lessons I've Learned from House Hunting

1 - It's for the birds!!  Oh my lans....I mentioned last week that this process might very well drive us to certified insanity (ok, mostly me, but then my insanity drive the hubs straight to the loony bin, too!).  All this negotiating and back and forth while knowing that it still might not work out, ughh!!  But we're thinking positively over here!  Can't we all just get along!? :)

2 - I'm the most impatient person you'll ever meet.  I strongly dislike waiting & surprises...just knowing that something is coming around the corner.  It's like waiting to get engaged almost.  You've dreamt about it your whole life, you've talked to your bf (realtor) about it and you know you're on the same page - you want the ring (house), he (the sellers) wants you to have the house - but no one is telling you when exactly you're gonna get it! Yeah, I don't like it.  I want what I want and I want it now!!!  But the Beatles constantly remind me, "You can't always get what you want", I'm just hoping they actually mean "You can't always get what you want {right away, but it will totally work out the way you want}!

3 - I crack under pressure.  I would, without a doubt, be the first to die in a scary movie.  I would never survive any kind of combat training or live to see the end of any kind of mass war time.  I'd be a goner for sure!  This is all a shocker to you, I'm sure!  Brace yourself, I'm also a crier.  Ask my close friends and family, they'll tell ya.  I've only teared up once in this process so I feel that's pretty good.  But the pressure continues to mount and I feel the foundation breaking, people!  I need an agreement!  And soon!  Please?

4 - It sure sucks the fun out of shopping!  I stopped by the mall this afternoon for a little birthday shopping.  I was going to treat myself to a cute new top or outfit to celebrate the big 2-5.  I found SO much cute stuff!!  All the stores have their spring lines out and bright colors, cropped pants and cute dresses were all whispering "buy me!" as I walked by.  But in the back of my head I kept hearing Brandon this voice in my head saying "You're about to make the biggest purchase of your life, you don't need to spend $34 on a top!"  Boo.  So I left empty handed.  This better be worth it!

5 - I'm dramatic.  See exhibits 1-4 above for further proof.  The emotional roller coaster-ness of this only amplifies the drama.  It causes me to write posts in which 3/4 of it comes out as complete and utter sarcasm and the other 1/4 is absolute total ugly truth - so all you future house hunters, be warned!  {Insert whiney voice}  I am ready for it all to end.  Well.  I want it to end well!!  It'll all be worth it, right!?

Right.  I will survive!

Weekend Happenings

Saturday morning we gladly woke up early with lots of anticipation....we were off to house hunt!  All we needed were some cameras and you'd think we were on HGTV ;)

Early morning house hunting requires back up from the pretty mermaid!

It was love at first sight with the first house we visited....so now we play the waiting game and wait with baited breath to see how this will all turn out!!!  Eeeep!!  {Cue internal freaking out, excitement, anticipation, and anxiety!}  We're 0-4 at this so far, so we're breathing none-the-less.

After house hunting we went to the gym for a bit, then came home to relax and watch more Dexter...obviously we're obsessed and have a problem.  You'd think the universe was against us watching Dexter, though!  Every BluRay we've had so far (there are 3 in season 1) has had a crack in it and at some point will mess up or just completely stop playing altogether.

Without fail, 40 minutes into episode 11, it stops playing!  Fabulous.  So we had to send it back and now we have to wait a whole week to finish season 1!  Wahhhh - such a first world pain for all you twitter peeps :)

Saturday night we went to our friend's Ryan & Kelly's new house for family style dinner! Everyone brought some sides, we ate a delish dinner, made a fire in their new fire pit out back, roasted s'mores & played some wagering board game (of which I was terrible at so I forgot the name :)!  Haha....but still a fantastic Saturday night with friends!!

And of course, I didn't take a single picture.  Figures.

Sunday, we slept in and when I finally mustered up enough courage to head to the gym, this happened....

According to B, I've set a new record for myself running so now I have to keep this kind of pace every run....CRAP! :)  Just kidding, I'm pretty proud of myself and now I know I can do it, so I guess I should aim for such a pace each run.  We'll see!

Sunday after the gym, B turned super handy and unclogged our kitchen disposal (that I apparently clogged Saturday night with sweet potato peelings...whoops!) with our bathroom plunger!  We're most certain this is a sign we're ready to be homeowners now!!

That night I made Skinnytaste Fiesta Lime Rice with ground chicken taco meat & it was SO good!  I highly recommend it :)

B left super early this morning to get to a client in Wilmington first thing & I couldn't sleep super well after that, so it was definitely a coffee kind of Monday!  But we didn't have a staff meeting this afternoon and tonight, Benson & I have a Bachelor date at my friend Andrea's with she & Oliver & some take out....so I can't complain!

Hope your weekend shaped up nicely!  Happy Birthday week to me ;)

Confessional Friday

It's Friday y'all, you know the drill!  Time for a little weekly confessing with Leslie... so hold on to your seat cause here we go! :)

1 - Birthday week started early!!  Last night, B surprised me with a present I'd really been wanting!

Love!!  Super cute, right?!

2 - You read correctly, I said birthday week.  I'm a firm believer that birthday's are too much fun to just be celebrated for one day.  You gotta spread the celebrating out!!

3 - To celebrate my birthday, I think a lot of, ahem some spring shopping is in order! Brandon doesn't quite feel this is the best way to celebrate...I have some convincing to do.

4 - For being a 'short' week...it sure felt really long.  Even with the 2 teacher workdays at the beginning of the week.  I usually feel like a small mac truck has run me over by Friday nights.  This week is no different, but the couch sure is comfy - I'm sinking into it as we speak :)

5 - Turns out what I thought was a cooking fail, actually turned out to be quite a success!  B loved the granola bars I made!!  And after I got over the peanut-buttery-ness, I really liked 'em too!

I'm going to make some again this weekend - switch up the ingredients a bit.  Not so much peanut butter and adding a little Justin's Chocolate Hazelnut Butter.  They'll still be kinda healthy, right?

6 - Speaking of healthy, I've been craving some good cupcakes lately.  I think I might need to make some for my birthday!  Yes, yes I need to do that!

7 - Surely cupcakes will be good for my calorie counter & my waistline right!?  As I'm sure the Chocolate Peanut Butter Malted Milk Balls I picked up today at Earthfare are!  Oh wait... actually probably not.

8 - I try to not over indulge, but I have to indulge every now in then.  Or else I'd straight up binge!  This week I may have over indulged a wee bit, though.  Darn those teacher workdays and eating lunch out and my chocolate cravings!!  This occurred to me on the treadmill yesterday as I was struggling through a run...

'If you feed your body crap, it will look like crap and perform like crap!!'

You'd think I'd learn this!!  Anytime I go for that piece of chocolate, I'm going to repeat this in my head.  Over and over again!  After tonight and those chocolate peanut butter malted milk balls, that is ;)  And birthdays are an exception right?

9 - House hunting quite possibly might be the death of me!!!  What an emotional roller coaster.  Holy cow!!  It also might be the death of my husband - I could likely drive him to insanity over it :)  Pray for us!  Haha

10 - On an exciting note, we're off to see some houses tomorrow - possibly 4 of 'em!!  Ya never know, we could see 'the one' tomorrow!!!  I have high hopes!

I'm outta confessions and we're puttin' Dexter in!  Happy weakend, y'all!!! :)